As a child in the rural district of Penal I remember sharing meals from the same pot with neighbours of different racial, ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.

My son is not that emotional. He thought my trip to India is just another conference, But when he hearing about my visit on TV, he too got moved.

When I was travelling in Rajasthan people were waving hands, and it felt like I was visiting my own constituency.

Looking towards the future, one of the most important issues the national community must face is the widening gap between the liberated, modern, independent women and our traditional men who are being left behind.

We need to rekindle those values, those strengths as a nation and as a people... And we must do so as one people with one goal.

Today is indeed an historic occasion when as a first chair-in-office woman I hand over to another woman chair in office, your Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, in the presence of a woman head of the Commonwealth, Her Royal Highness, Her Majesty the Queen of England.